


The Future Tense of Fear

by raven_aorla



Category: Supernatural, Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Established Relationship, Ficlet, Gen, M/M, carlos is merciful, the winchesters are in too deep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2013-07-22
Packaged: 2017-12-21 00:52:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/893882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_aorla/pseuds/raven_aorla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>...is comedy or tragedy.</p><p>(Or, How Perfect and Wonderful Carlos Humanely Got Rid of Those Two White Guys Who Were Trying to Kill Everyone)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Future Tense of Fear

Dean was working on picking the lock of the radio station’s back door as Sam flipped through Dad’s journal hoping to find something relevant. Sam nudged Dean. An utterly normal-looking, dark-skinned guy in a lab coat and with very nice hair was approaching. He had no apparent weapons, though he did appear to be texting on his phone, and rather than fear or rage his face showed exasperation.

"Are you the Winchester brothers?" he asked.

Without pausing to think Dean splashed the guy with holy water. He didn’t scream or flail. He blinked and wiped his face with the back of one hand.

"Sorry," Sam said, feeling oddly ashamed. “We get nervous."

"So you _are_ the brothers. I’m here to ask you to leave the radio station alone and get out of town. Well, it’s more like ‘advise’. The people here deal with worse things than vigilantes all the time but if any of the police or government agents decide to take action I don’t like to think what would happen to you. If you break into that building, I don’t like to think what Station Management might do to you."

Dean looked the guy over. Wasn’t a demon, too much light around here even during the oddly-colored sunset for a lot of other possible uglies, too humanoid for most of the others. “Why do you care?"

"I don’t like it when people suffer and die. Also Old Woman Josie said the angels have made it quite clear that it is important for you both to survive at least a few more years at functioning sanity. Cecil mentioning that in his most recent broadcast is likely the only reason you haven’t been killed already. It won’t last if you keep causing trouble."

Sam was getting a headache. This town hummed in his teeth. “Cecil…the radio announcer?" The creepily psychic radio announcer with the soothing voice saying horrific things that they had accidentally picked up after they ran out of cassette tapes to listen to was what had drawn them to Night Vale in the first place. He’d even narrated their arrival and various details of their lives before they’d spoken to anyone. They didn’t have a portable radio but from the way doors slammed and locked as they approached it was safe to say their reputation preceded them.

"Cecil, the radio announcer, the Voice of Night Vale, and my boyfriend. Don’t act like I can’t see that bag of salt and those herbs and candles sticking out of your backpack. He tries very hard to maintain a humanoid form and he doesn’t need you setting his self-confidence back years." Their expressions must have been truly epic because the man let out a long sigh. “You know, when I look back on my life less than twenty percent of my woes could be attributed to Night Vale in some way. About twenty percent more were happenstance that can happen anywhere. The remaining sixty percent were straight white men. I was starting to forget that."

This was when the door swung open. All either Sam or Dean could remember was a concerned voice with more levels of resonance and distortion than seemed possible saying, “Carlos, is someone hassling you?"

The next thing they knew, they were driving down the highway in the Impala, Rolling Stones playing on the stereo. Sam had two brown paper bags on his lap that turned out to be full of hot sandwiches, fries, and a Coke each from an Arby’s.

Dean made no motion to turn around. Sam had no intention of asking him to. The food was pretty good but lacked salt.

A while later, Dean muttered something about vanilla air freshener not being so bad, better than pine anyway.


End file.
